"I'll take a vodka and tonic with a twist," the man ordered to the Italian waitress.
"That sounds good, I'll have the same," the woman at the same table agreed.
"Great," the waitress says scribbling on her notepad. "I'll put that right in for yas."
This waitress was not Carla Tortelli LeBec working in a bar called Cheers. This was Sarafina Tortelli MacDougall, Carla's daughter, and she worked at a bar called Valentino's. It was slightly bigger than Cheers but it wasn't all that homey. They had different people there all the time, barely any regulars. The place was also owned and operated entirely of women. It was no boy's club whatsoever.
"Yo, Kim," Sarafina calls to the bartender. "Two vodka tonics with a twist."
"Coming right up, Sar," Kim says getting ready to esemble the order. "By the way, you must be excited about your up and coming maternity leave."
"Yeah," Sarafina says looking down and patting her belly. "I can't wait. Bernadette's driving me nuts in there. Always kicking me in the ribs and all."
"Bernadette," Kim says putting the drinks on the tray. " That's a great name."
"Thanks," Sarafina says taking the tray. She keeps eyeing the new blond waitress as she walks by. Her name was Heather and she thought since she was going to Harvard, she was smarter than everybody else. It really reminded Sarafina of that Diane woman her mother hated with all the burning passion inside of her. She hands the couple their vodkas and looks at her watch. It was time for her break.
"Hey, Kim," she says taking her apron off at the bar. "I'm taking fifteen."
"Okay, it's your time. Go girl," Kim says shooing her away.
"Yeah, I'll go, straight to the bathroom."
"Didn't need to know that."
"Well now you do."
She walks away from Kim with an eyeroll. She liked Kim okay but people just plain annoyed her. She noticed how much she was like her mother as she sat on the toilet. She started to think about her life and she decided it definitley wasn't the easiest. Her dad walked out, her mom was always at work, and when she wasn't, it was because she just gave birth to another kid. She always held resentment towards her mom for that. For always having more kids to take care of when she didn't have the money or support to raise them.
Being the oldest girl, Sarafina really had to step up and help out whenever she could. It was like an unspoken order in their house, the older ones take care of the smaller ones and the smaller ones take care of the very little ones. She figured the only thing they ever really taught each other was to be rebellious. She knows they gave their mom a lot of Hell and sometimes she really felt sorry for what they put their mom through.
She started to feel that especially now with being married at the young age of eighteen and Bernadette being born in just another month or so. Also now with the fact that she was now working in a bar hustling drinks while her husband did nothing. The reality was starting to scare her. She got up off the toilet and flushed. She walked over to the sink to wash her hands when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She looked bloated, tired and worn out. Just as she teased her mother for looking all these years.
"Mirror, mirror, on the wall," she says letting the warm water and soap cover her hands. "I've become my mother after all."